How Do You Want Me?

Comedian Ian Lyons has married Lisa and now moved to the village where she grew up. He is very much a city person and finds it hard to fit in. He also has difficulties with his in-laws; Lisa's father can't stand him and offers him a substantial sum of money to leave, without her. Unable to work as a comedian in such a small place he takes over a photography business; a job he is not immediately qualified to do.

This series is a real delight. Dylan Moran and Charlotte Coleman have a great chemistry as Ian and Lisa; they feel like a real couple not a comedy-couple. There characters are the most 'real' in the series. The other characters are equally impressive and only slightly exaggerated... particular highlights among them are Frank Finlay's performance as Lisa's father and Peter Serafinowicz as her psychotic brother. The various situations Dylan finds himself in create both humour and feelings of discomfort without being overly forced. The realism is increased by the wise choice not to include a laugh track. Having watched all twelve episodes it is just a shame more wasn't made; I'd certainly recommend this to people who like the idea of a sitcom that isn't just forced gags.

This was a great comedy/drama. Perhaps the best work on-screen Dylan Moran has produced, and a huge progression for writer Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly). This programme never received the scheduling it deserved, and is long over-due for a DVD release (especially when terrible 'comedies' like Two Pints of Lager are being released by the BBC).

The programme focused on the relationship between Ian (Moran) and Lisa (Charlotte Coleman) as they relocate to her rural hometown. The seemingly idyllic location, masks a more sinister reality. The adjustment to life in The Village and especially the hatred Lisa's father feels (and shows) toward Ian make up the bones of the series'.

The darker elements of the plot never stray into caricature, and the ensemble cast provide a believable (and very funny) array of locals. The love between Ian and Lisa really holds the piece together, and its to Moran's acting credit that we believe he would continue living in this rural nightmare, thanks mainly to the on- screen rapport between him and Charlotte Coleman (who sadly died after the second series).

This is one of the most brilliant and most underrated TV comedy series of all time. From the writer of 'Men Behaving Badly' Simon Nye, but in a totally different vein, this is warm, witty and often touching.

It basically tells the story of a young couple who have moved to the countryside to be near her (Charlotte Coleman) parents. The husband (comedian and acting genius Dylan Moran) resents the move and doesn't get on with her father. And that's it. But the acting and directing is so perfect that every episode was engrossing. BBC2 stuck both series of this on quite late at night and hardly anybody seemed to see it, which is a tragedy. If you ever get a chance to see it, it's well worth a look.

I remembered this series fondly and had given up hope of it being repeated.

But I discovered that both series have just been put out on DVD. Only ten years after it was first made, but they got there in the end.

And I'm delighted to say that it is as funny and as sweet as I recall. Dylan Moran essentially plays his stand-up persona (himself?), and, as such, is wonderful. Rather than all the sitcoms that feature wise-cracking central characters who get rewarded with overdone canned laughter, Moran is put in a situation in which none of the other characters find him funny.

As has already been said, Charlotte Coleman is wonderful. It's also interesting to watch because many of the supporting cast, such as Mark Heap and Peter Serafinowicz, have subsequently become familiar from roles in "Shaun of the Dead", "Spaced" and "Green Wing".

I second the comments above - How Do You Want Me is a superb sitcom. it's very dark, the characters are quite cruel in places, and you do frequently feel that the village community is a dangerous place to be. this is counterpointed, however, by some wonderfully whimsical writing from Simon Nye and the really optimistic attitude he invests in the characters of Ian and Lisa. the guest stars are uniformly top-notch too, from Frank Finlay's appallingly nasty father-in-law to the comically bully some brother-in-law played by Peter Serafinowicz.

How Do You Want Me is an absolute treasure and ranks easily alongside the very best British sitcoms. astonishingly the BBC have not released it on DVD, so anyone who wants to watch it please get in touch with them to make your wishes known.